Lady Smith Lodge...A Story Of A Fire And Heroism. (1897) Part Three.
This post is one of three posts about the Lady Smith Lodge, a home that was established for young women in the early years of the colony.
The first post is about an article that outlines the history of Lady Smith Lodge, the donations made, a background of some of the women who resided there, the routine and obligations provided by the Matron Sister Lizzie. The article was edited for copyright reasons.
The second post is about some of the women who stayed there over the years from letters published in the local newspapers. The letters highlight some of the issues women who worked to provide themselves with a living faced in the early years of the colony and were associated with Lady Smith Lodge.
The third post is about the heroism of a young woman in 1898 after a fire broke out at the Lady Smith Lodge at 5 am in the morning. She saved the women's lives who lived there and building.
In 1897 the Western Australian community recognised that there was a need for suitable accommodation for young women coming to Perth for employment and for those in domestic service seeking a break before moving on to their next position. By 1901 Lady Smith Lodge which had relocated to Hay Street, West Perth and then eventually closed with the funds and goods transferred to the Home of Peace for the Dying and Incurable in Subiaco. The Home officially opened in 1902 in Thomas Street opposite Hay Street on the condition that a ward for males be opened and named the Lady Smith Lodge and the female ward be named in honour of Lady Onslow in recognition of her contributions.
The article is from Trove, the database for the National Library of Australia. No copyright infringement intended. The article has been edited for copyright reasons.
Clare's Weekly, 21 May 1898.
AT THE LADY SMITH LODGE.
There were two girls asleep in the room. One suddenly woke up feeling an intuition that something was wrong. A peculiar noise a recurrent grating, crackling sound, was heard. After listening for a time and speculating as to the cause of annoyance, she called across to the other occupant of the room. "Lizzie, do you hear a strange noise?" The walking girl sat up in bed for a moment listening - then she said, "It is the rats, they are eating through the floor, soon they will be making holes in our mattress ; go to sleep and take no notice of them. I'm off." The speaker lay down, turning her face to the wall , and soon gave evidence of being off to the hind of nod again.
The first speaker tried to compose herself to sleep too, but that irritating, monotonous sound of scratching and crackling - continued and increased in violence. Determined to find out what the cause really she left her bed, threw a wrapper around her, struck a light, and proceeded from the room. As soon as she opened the door she detected the direction of the sounds, and followed a passage lending to a lumber room, in which were kept the boxes and trunks of clothing belonging to the girls who lodged in the house. The sounds came from that room, and the girl fancied that she could smell smoke.
It dawned upon her at once that there was fire within the lumber room, but the door was fastened. She exerted her strength and forced the crazy lock. As she opened the door, smoke rushed out at once she reclosed the door, ran to her own room, and waked her companion, then flew down stairs to rouse the servants, and send one of them to alarm the fire brigade. Back to her own room to seize a rug, and then, assisted by her room and , she commenced to beat down the flames, which had eaten into the flooring, and almost consumed the lighter of the boxes of clothing.
By the time the matron was dressed, and the firemen arrived upon the scene, the flames were subdued, and all danger over, though the men, upon seeing how far the fire had progressed, declared that a very few minutes delay in ascertaining that a fire existed, would have meant total destruction of the building, and perhaps loss of life to the inmates.
But what remained to the heroic girl who had come to the rescue, and by her presence of mind battled the fire fiend, and saved the house from destruction? Only that her clothing was destroyed, along with that of the other poor girls who lodged in the house.
The landlord received a large rental for the building. He was a wealthy man. He was also a Christian and a prominent citizen. She would appeal to his generosity and to his Christian sympathy. She had saved his house. He would surely reimburse her for the loss of her clothing, for she was poor and had to earn, her living by teaching music.
She was too ill-paid for her services to be in a position to live in apartments in a regular hoarding house, so she pocketed her pride and took up her abode in a semi-charitable home. When she made her appeal to the landlord, he calmly informed her that she had only done her duty. Next she tried the Insurance office.
Finally, a five-pound cheque was forthcoming from each source, and the ten pounds was divided between the eleven girls, all of whom had suffered the loss of their clothing by the fire. The heroine of the affair was given a whole pound, as her reward for saving the house, the other ten were the recipients of 18s apiece.
The photograph is of St George Terrace in Perth in 1899 and from the Royal Historical Society of Western Australia. No copyright infringement intended.
